CENTREVILLE &045; After 13 years of inactivity, classroom bells are set to ring again when William Winans Attendance Center re-opens this fall as home to Wilkinson County’s middle school students.

In August, approximately 400 sixth, seventh and eighth graders will occupy two new classroom buildings and a dining facility on the Cherokee Street campus in Centreville.

&uot;The construction should be finished by the end of next month. We are planning to invite the public to an open house at the school this summer after the work is completed,&uot; Wilkinson County School Superintendent Mildred McGhee said.

School officials are currently working out staffing details and planning new bus routes in anticipation of the opening, said McGhee, who recognizes that some people will have to adjust to the changes.

&uot;I’m hoping that everyone will be happy. There may be some inconveniences, but our children’s education is worth it. We want to make it worth the changes, and I believe we will,&uot; she said.

McGhee said middle school students, who have traditionally presented more academic and disciplinary problems, need the special attention that a separate school allows.

&uot;We will be able to focus more on the children’s educational needs while allowing them a chance to mature socially.

We want them to be ready for high school when they reach that point,&uot; McGhee said.

The new construction and renovations at WWAC were funded with state-issued bonds through the Mississippi Adequate Education Program at a projected cost of $1.85 million.

The Jackson architectural firm of Thomkins and Barron was hired to design and oversee the project.

WWAC was named for William Winans, a Methodist circuit rider who preached in Southwest Mississippi during the early 1800’s and later donated the property for the school. WWAC was closed in 1990 when junior high and high school students from Centreville were consolidated with Wilkinson County High School in Woodville.